These pages are designed to help you in your search for Native American
roots. It is a fantastic journey but not an easy one.

There are many paths to be followed in order to prove or disprove
any family traditions of Native American Ancestry.

It is a pleasure to join with the TNGenWeb Project, and specifically
the "First Persons of Tennessee" special project. I want to stress
that these pages are not limited to the confines of the state of Tennessee.
Many states will be involved because the original Cherokee Nation in the
east covered a large area. The Cherokee Nation West will also be covered
in several ways.

The Window to the past holds many records you will need to search
for. Let's examine some of these documents and the steps leading
from them.

Mountains, Rivers and Streams

The land is what the struggle has always been about. Who would own
it?

And so it is the land that can help us in our search. How
do we use it? One answer is through maps. The maps of the places where
our ancestors lived; maps that show where the tribal lands lay; maps that
show the paths, and later the roads, that people traveled. All of these
maps hold clues for us and we should make use of them as often as possible.

TN Map SectionThere
are some really good maps of the Old Cherokee Nation East at this website.

OFTEN REPEATED QUESTIONS

I receive literally hundreds of queries regarding Cherokee ancestors.
There are certain "core" points in all of these requests. This
section will attempt to cover some of those points. Check back often
as I will be adding more answers to this area.